On our recent trip to the States, we were lucky enough to Fly in Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic and on the way back got to visit the Clubhouse Lounge at JFK Airport, New York. If you are lucky enough to get to pass through this lounge here is what you can expect.
Vigin’s Clubhouses are the Airline’s own-brand Upper-Class Lounges and they are designed to reflect the brand and ethos of the Airline. This means they are often a lot cooler than other Business and high-end lounges. They offer quirky design features, and modern food and drink options and are generally a more relaxed and hip place to hang out in the airport before your flight. However, things are still really high-end, with top-notch fixtures and fittings, Amazing service, quality food, and top-shelf drinks.
These are some of our favorite places to spend some time before a flight, so much so we often get there earlier than we would usually just so we can enjoy the lounge for longer. There is no Time Limit on your arrival so as long as you have a same-day ticket you are good to go. Each Lounge takes inspiration from the City it is located so we were excited to see what inspiration Virgin would take from New York, one of our favorite Cities in the world!
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Lounge Access
Full list of who can access the Lounge
Access to the Lounge is restricted to Virgins Upper-Class Passengers, Select Business Class on Delta or China Airlines, and certain Top Tier Status holders, so it’s pretty elite and gets you away from the business of JFK’s public spaces. While the below list covers quite a few people, the reality is only really VirginUpper-Class passengers use the Lounge as most other people eligible have either their own lounge or there is just not much through traffic at this terminal.
Upon arrival, we found the lounge pretty empty and for the 3 or so hours we were there it never really got very busy, possibly one of the quietest lounges we have visited recently. We just found that the large space more than copes with the amount of custom it receives.
It is also worth mentioning that not all of your party has to be flying upper class to access the lounge. Each Upperclass passenger can bring one Guest who is not upper class but is traveling on Virgin or Delta into the lounge. This can change and used to be more generous, so check the requirements before you head to the lounge.
Getting to the Clubhouse
Check-in was a breeze as we got to use the Upper-Class desk with zero queues, and then we headed for the Priority security line which is usually really fast. However, there were some issues on the day we visited, but was still a lot quicker than the standard line getting through in around 20-25 minutes.
The Clubhouse is Located in Terminal 4, which is handy as this is the Terminal where Virgin operates its flights. The Lounge is located in the A-wing of the terminal, which was nice and convenient for us, as our gate was also in the A-Wing, however be warned if your Gate is in the B-Wing then you will have quite the trek from the Lounge to the Gate.
Finding the Lounge was pretty easy, you simply turn left after security, follow the signs for the Lounges and the Virgin Clubhouse is just upstairs around halfway down the A-Wing, and is well signposted. It took us around 40 minutes from Kurnside to Lounge and that was with an unusual Delay at Security.
The Clubhouse Space
We love the Styling of the Clubhouses, they are always funky and relaxed while still feeling premium. Each Clubhouse has its own unique style and the JFK Lounge takes its design queues from the Big Apple.
The Centre Piece is the quirky Ball Sofa, although it’s not as comfy as it is cool. There is a lot of wood finishing all around the Lounge and the Lines are all Chaotic and curved rather than a classical layout. This lends itself from Central Park where Paths and routes are not straightforward to encourage you to get lost. The wood paneling also forms a really neat Skyline effect as you walk around which is quite subtle but really nice.
There are large windows all around the large lounge space, looking out over the Flight Apron. This allows lots of natural light and really helps open up the space. We were there for sunset and we had a wonderful view over the airport as the sun dipped down and the sky burst into an array of reds and oranges.
There are lots of varied seating options from comfy and cosy to secluded and business-like. The seating options are definitely quirky and many of them have the feeling of being style over function. Such as this super cool Men In Black Inspired Seating area, great to look at, but not so great for sitting.
We found a nice spot with a great view out over the airport and go straight on with the Menu. Naturally ordering up some Bubbles First.
Food and Drink
The Food and drinks are always a highlight at the Clubhouses. The Food Menus are always Alacarte, not the Luke Warm Buffets favored by most lounges, and offer modern and delicious food items to represent the Locations along with a fantastic drinks menu that offers high-end liquor and a fantastic selection of beers and wines.
We were offered Actual Menus on arrival or you can scan the QR code and order directly to your table from the APP. The Servers seemed to prefer taking our orders but after some pretty slow service, we took to either ordering from the App or just heading to the Bar.
Food
The food menu was excellent, with tasty light bites or some more substantial meals. We started off with some Chicken Wings, we ordered a double portion and they were really good served with a Blue Cheese dip.
I then had a Grilled Chicken and Lemon burger that was excellent, nice, and spicy with bags of flavor. Kate was not that hungry so opted to move on to dessert, but there were some really interesting options on the Menu such as Chicken Tikka Masala, Cauliflower Mac and Cheese, and the Beyond Meat Burger.
For Dessert, we had New York Cheesecake, this was baked New York Style and was pretty decent for Airport food, but you can obviously get better in the City. Kate went for Cheese Board which was really excellent, with three good Cheeses (Brie, Stilton, and Aged Cheddar) with a selection of crackers, Bread Chutney, and Grapes.
We then settled in waiting for our flight while exploring the Drinks menu and ordering up some amazing cocktails. The Menu is Al A Carte and on demand so we could easily have ordered more but we know we get well fed on board the flight so this was more than enough.
Drinks
If the food menu is good then the drinks menu is exceptional. This is an upper-class lounge so it’s rude to not start with some Bubbles. And they do not mess around, offering their Nicholas Feuillatte Frech Champagne as soon as you walk in. They also have a nice Rose Champagne or just Prosecco if you prefer.
The White wine options were a little disappointing with no USA whites on the list, but there were a couple of Washington State reds on offer which was nice after visiting that region last year. We are also pleased to hear that Virgin has ditched the Whispering Angel Rose as for us that was style over substance!
There was a decent selection of imported beers, but far more exciting were the Local brews on offer. Brooklyn Lager, Fat Tyre, and Sweetwater Brewing Co. Extra Pale Ale. were the options when we visited.
There was a fantastic selection of Signature Cocktails, and all the ones we tried were excellent. With average cocktail prices in the City over $20 it was really nice to get some top-shelf creations for free! (well included in the rather expensive flight ticket!). We tried the Dry Martini, Cosmopolitan, Negroni, and of course the Old Fashioned. All top-shelf spirits and hand-crafted. There is also a Full Bar so if something is not listed feel free to ask one of the Bar Tenders.
Menus
There were the Menus when we visited but you can find the latest up-to-date menus here, although these are subject to change, but will give you a good idea.
You can order via the Servers, at the Bar, or fire up the App by scanning the Barcode and order directly to the Table. Everything is made to order and Al a Carte, which is a really nice change from most Lounges, even business class and high-end Credit Card Lounges, where food is served via a lukewarm buffet station of questionable quality.
Service
Once in the lounge and settled in our comfortable spot by the window, we were instantly attended to by a server. This is the kind of service we have come to expect from Virgin lounges. However, this level of service didn’t last, and we were left quite a while with no drinks and no sign of another server.
This is the very definition of First World Problems, but really, it took from our arrival at 3:02 pm until 3:25 pm to get a drink, that’s 23 minutes, just for a glass of Champagne. It was pretty annoying, just sitting there for 20 minutes waiting for drinks. After this, we didn’t see the server again, so when we needed more drinks we simply went to the bar. Here drinks were poured to order, and the bartender seemed to give us a knowing glance that the server we had may not be the best.
After this, we simply used the App for food and drinks we just went to the friendly and helpful bartenders who naturally received a great tip. This lapse in service was also compounded by the fact the lounge really was not very busy at all. Compared to the service we get at the Heathrow Clubhouse, it really is night and day!
Amenities
There is not much in the way of amenities at the lounge, these are pretty much limited to Shwers, Luggage Storage, and a few games. However, what there is on offer is pretty decent.
The bathrooms were certainly an experience with a freaky psychedelic Corridor leading to them. There were standard Cubicles along with combi Shower stalls. These did not need to be booked so we helped ourselves to a pre-flight shower. All cubicles were clean and well maintained with a permanent attendant keeping an eye on things.
The White tiling and high-end fixtures added a sense of luxury and the cubicles were warm and inviting. It really can be hard to explain just how good a nice warm shower can be after a stressful journey through an airport, helping you start the flight off on the right foot.
The Ball Sofa area is what is considered the fun zone. There is a Pool table and various board games along with a tv. It’s not a part of the Lunge we really used, nor did anyone really while we were there.
How Crowded was the Lounge?
Not at all. Lounge overcrowding is becoming a real issue as the word spreads about how nice lounges are compared to spending time in the main airport. This means many lounges are overcrowded to the point they are less enjoyable than the main concourse, and may simply be full with access being denied even to those with bookings!
This was far from the case here. We found the lounge quite deserted on arrival and as the day wore on, it got a little busier but never to the point where it felt crowded. There were copious amounts of empty seats of all kinds for the entirety of our stay, it was very pleasant and a consequence of the fairly straight access requirements and lack of Virgin Services in and out of the Airport. While Delta upper-class can also use the lounge, they also have access to the Delta Sky Club lounge, and most Delta passengers seem to opt for that.
Summing Up
Overall we loved this lounge it’s right up there with the best. It’s more fun and lighthearted than some business offerings and we love the design cues from the City. The poor service was fixed by ordering at the bar/app and actually improved as the stay went on, we think we just got a bad server, and other than that the experience was excellent and we hope we get to come back sometime soon,
As the sun set we had a few more drinks, before heading off to board our Upper-Class Flight back to London.
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Have Your Say
Let us know your thoughts on Visiting the Clubhouse at JFK New York. Have you visited the lounge? What were your favorite parts? How was the crowding? Let us know in the comments below. Maybe you are visiting for the first time soon, what are you looking forward to and do you have any specific questions? Just let us know in the comments and remember to come back and add your thoughts after you have visited.
